What is the Medallion Foundation?

 

The Medallion Foundation, Inc. is an Alaskan 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded at this time solely by grants from the Federal Government that are funneled through and monitored by the FAA.

The long term goals of the Foundation are:

        •  Reduce aviation accidents in Alaska

        •  Reduce commercial aviation insurance rates in Alaska

        •  Influence the aviation Safety Culture in Alaska

The Medallion Foundation concept is the result of an industry/ government effort to enhance aviation safety in Alaska. A business plan was developed late in 2000 based on a best practices concept incorporating successful programs found throughout the world.

The business plan was modified and submitted as a grant request to the Federal Government. In November 2001 the Foundation was incorporated in Alaska and in May of the following year the initial funds from the grant were received.

This business plan evolved into the Five Star Shield that incorporates:

        •  A safety program

        •  A risk management program

        •  A CFIT avoidance program

        •  A program to enhance maintenance and ground service

        •  An internal audit process

The program has been called a Safety Management System (SMS) on steroids because it incorporates all aspects of an SMS while at the same time it integrates the System Safety attributes and process as well as a comprehensive multi-level auditing procedure. More important, the program incorporates accountability and has a disciplined approach to implementation.

A more detailed review of the Five Star Shield program may be found here: Shield Program Overview.  In March 2004 the Foundation initiated the Medallion Flyers program. A program focused on the individual Part 91 General Aviation pilot. We have taken applicable programs from the Shield program and applied them to individual pilots. We are initially looking at:

        •  Personal safety minimums

        •  Risk management

        •  CFIT avoidance

The success of both programs has been beyond expectation. We initially thought we would have 15 applicants to the Shield program – currently that number exceeds 75. We also thought we would have approximately 200 to 400 in the Flyers program – currently we have more than 1,200!

More important than the number of participants is the fact that the number of aviation mishaps in Alaska has gone down. We would like to think that our efforts have had an impact and have influenced that reduction.

Thank you for visiting our web site.

Sincerely,

Jerry Dennis

Medallion Foundation, Inc.

Executive Director